Silent films screened at Mumbai fest

Mumbai, Oct 24 (IANS) Eleven silent films from the 1920s, including "Raja Harishchandra" and "Sati Savitri", were screened Wednesday at the 14th Mumbai Film Festival. One film, "A Throw Of Dice", was accompanied by a live orchestra.

"The highlight this year was restored silent films. 'Throw Of Dice' was screened with a live orchestra. It was an 80-minute film and it was outstanding," Swati Rohatgi, a film enthusiast, told IANS.

To mark 100 years of Indian cinema, four films of Dadasaheb Phalke -- "Kaliya Mardan" (1919), "Shri Krishna Janma" (1918), "Lanka Dahan" (1917) and "Raja Harishchandra" (1913) -- were screened.

The other films were Baburao Painter's "Sati Savitri" (1927) and "Murlivala" (1927), Kalipada Das's "Jamai Babu" (1931), G.P. Pawar's "Diler Jigar" (1931), P.V. Rao's "Marthand Varma"(1931) and Franz Osten's "Shiraz" (1929) and "A Throw Of Dice" (1929).

"It was a great idea to screen silent films. The festival should show more silent films," said writer-journalist Ranjib Mazumder.